The quality of certain foods is enhanced by the addition of food ingredients, such as anti-caking materials and anti-mycotic materials, which modify the functional characteristics of such foods or prolong the shelf life of the foods. Divided, shredded, and grated foods are commonly treated with an anti-caking material food ingredient to enhance the flow characteristics of the divided food material and to prevent the food material from clumping together. Anti-mycotic materials are commonly added to foods susceptible to mold, yeast, and fungus to inhibit growth of molds, yeast, and fungi and extend the shelf-life of the foods.
Anti-caking materials are typically food grade powdered or particulate materials such as celluloses, silicates and the like, which are dispersed in a divided food material by being mixed with the food material. The powdery anti-caking material enhances the flow characteristics of the food material in which it is dispersed. Anti-caking materials are also typically porous and absorbent to absorb moisture in the food, thereby reducing moisture-induced clumping of the divided food material.
Anti-mycotic materials are materials which directly or indirectly inhibit mold, yeast, and fungus growth. Direct action anti-mycotic materials are materials which inhibit the growth of a mold, yeast, or a fungus upon direct contact with the mold, yeast, or fungus. Direct action anti-mycotic materials are commonly applied to food materials by forming a suspension of the anti-mycotic in a liquid medium and applying the liquid suspension to a food material. Indirect action anti-mycotic materials are materials such as enzyme/carbohydrate mixtures or combinations of chemicals which react in combination with oxygen in a sealed package to scavenge and deplete oxygen in the package containing the anti-mycotic mixture, thereby inhibiting the growth of oxygen dependent molds, yeast, and fungi.
Divided foods needing improved flow characteristics and inhibition of mold, yeast, or fungus growth are enhanced by the addition of both anti-caking material and anti-mycotic material food ingredients. For example, anti-caking material and anti-mycotic material food ingredients are commonly added to grated, shredded, diced, crumbled, or sliced cheeses and to fermented meat products such as sausages or pepperoni in commercial processes for forming such foods.
Anti-caking materials and anti-mycotic materials are typically added separately to a food material. The anti-mycotic material may be added to a food material in which the anti-caking material is already dispersed, or the anti-caking material may be added to a food material which has been treated with an anti-mycotic material. It is desirable, however, to apply a material having combined anti-mycotic and anti-caking properties to a food material to provide uniform dispersal of the anti-mycotic and anti-caking activities throughout the food material, and to reduce the amount of processing of the food material.
Food ingredients having combined anti-caking and anti-mycotic activities are known in the art, but are either ineffective to deliver the desired anti-caking and anti-mycotic properties or have significant drawbacks. Combinations of anti-caking materials with indirect action anti-mycotic materials have been used, and are effective to provide anti-caking and anti-mycotic properties in a sealed package. Indirect action anti-mycotic materials, however, are only effective so long as the package is sealed, and lose effectiveness when the package is opened, or if the seals on the package are not intact, and oxygen is introduced into the package. Packaging of food materials containing an indirect action anti-mycotic material is also expensive since a heavy packaging material is needed to prevent gas diffusion through the package and controlled atmosphere flushing of the packages is often necessary.
A dry anti-caking material can be blended with a dry direct action anti-mycotic material to provide a food ingredient with both anti-caking and anti-mycotic activities. Dry blends of anti-caking material and direct action anti-mycotic material, however, suffer drawbacks which effectively preclude their use as a food ingredient. First, dry blends having effective anti-mycotic activity cannot be formed without exceeding the maximum level of anti-mycotics permissible by food regulations. For safety purposes, food regulations permit only minute quantities of direct action anti-mycotic materials to be added to foods. In order to achieve a uniform distribution of a dry direct action anti-mycotic in the dry anti-caking material, a substantial excess of the dry anti-mycotic over the maximum level of anti-mycotics allowed by regulation must be dispersed in the mixture. Second, dry blends of anti-caking materials and direct action anti-mycotic materials have irregular anti-mycotic function, resulting in foods susceptible to patches of molds, yeast, or fungi, since simple blends tend not to be homogenous in composition. Third, food ingredients containing dry blends of anti-caking materials and anti-mycotic materials are quite dusty, resulting in significant loss of the food ingredient in the process of applying the food ingredient to a food.
Food ingredients containing combined anti-mycotic and anti-caking materials which are formed by direct application of a liquid medium containing a direct action anti-mycotic to an anti-caking material are ineffective as anti-mycotics. The porous and absorbent nature of anti-caking materials causes an anti-caking material to absorb and trap liquid anti-mycotic materials or anti-mycotic materials contained in a liquid suspension within the interior of the anti-caking material. This renders the resulting combination ineffective in treating mold, yeast, and fungal growths when the anti-mycotic is added in concentrations within food safety regulation limits since the direct action anti-mycotic is unavailable to contact and eliminate mold, yeast, and fungal growths in a food material.